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Tyler Z., Appliance Doc

Category: Appliance

Satisfied Customers: 80244

Experience: 9+ years being an appliance technician with factory training.

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I have a Norge upright 20.3 cu. ft. manual defrost freezer

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I have a Norge upright 20.3 cu. ft. manual defrost freezer model DF20AALWH purchased in 1982. The compressor runs continuously. How do I clean the condenser? It does not appear to be accessible. What else could be the problem? Thanks.

Hello, and thank you for using this service. I'll be helping you with your problem today.

If you pull the refrigerator out, the entire back has a coil running from the top of the freezer to the bottom and that is your condenser coil. You can try to clean them if you like, but honestly these don't generally cause a problem on this style freezer. Other than that, if the compressor runs constantly, either you're getting low on freon and have a freon leak, or your compressor is just becoming inefficient and you'd need a new compressor. You would need to have a technician tap into the system to check the freon pressure to determine if you're low on freon or just need a new compressor.

It is not a refrigerator, it is a freezer. There is no condenser coil running from the top to the bottom of the entire back. The rear of the freezer is completely enclosed with the sheet metal tack welded on all four sides of the back, with the exception of the compressor compartment at the bottom, which is open to the rear.

I understand it's a freezer, in this industry the terminology "refrigerator" generally covers freezers, wine coolers, refrigerators etc. Sorry if there was any confusion.

Either way, if the coils are enclosed, they are still located in the back wall I can see the diagram in front of me. But often times the coils were sealed inside the box. There is no way to clean these coils nor do they ever need to be cleaned and that leaves only a sealed system leak or an inefficient compressor.